This section is intended to introduce the reader to aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure described herein, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Safety pressure relief devices, such as rupture discs, are frequently used in the protection of pressure vessels or other equipment wherein dangerous pressures may occur. More particularly, rupture discs generally relate to a frangible disc designed to rupture at a predetermined pressure differential. A rupture disc is dome-shaped and usually positioned between the high and low pressure sides of a device, with the high pressure acting upon the face of the diaphragm or disc, so that when the pressure rises toward the danger point, the disc ruptures at the predetermined pressure for which it was designed, thereby relieving the excessive pressure.
It is common in the oil industry to use polyethylene piping, such as piping offered from Polypipe®, however, other types of piping can also be used. During oil drilling and pumping activities from a wellhead or from production batteries, these pipes can come under sudden or extreme pressure. Often times, these pressures can exceed the maximum allowable pressure under normal working conditions. This excess pressure can typically result from plugged or frozen headers at the production battery. The excess pressure can subsequently cause pipe rupture, leakage, and/or damage to one or more pipes or to other parts/components of the pipeline system, such as valves, joints, etc. Hence, damage to such pipeline will require shutting down the drilling, pumping, and/or production for one or more days and weeks for repair and/or replacement of the pipeline and/or clean up of the land.
Hence, what is needed is pipeline configuration and bypass system that can reduce or eliminate the occurrence of a pipeline rupture for an oil production facility, and in the case of a rupture allow for an easy and quick repair of the pipe without stopping production.